Sermon Tone Analysis

*Psalm 18   Open Gate Christian Fellowship*

 

This psalm is first seen in *2 Samuel 22*, when David was at the end of his life.

Thinking about how God had given him victory over Saul, the rebellion of Absalom, and enemies on every side, David sings of God’s faithfulness.

In 2 Samuel, this psalm appears as a record of history.

Here, it provides a picture of prophecy, for Paul would apply it to Jesus Christ (see verse 49 and Romans 15:9).

In verse 50, we read of the “anointed one.”

There were three groups of people who received the anointing of oil: prophets, priests, and kings.

Jesus is, of course, the King of kings, our Great High Priest, and the perfect Prophet.

In this single psalm, we see the rejected Prophet in verses 1 through 19, the reigning Priest in verses 20 through 31, and, finally, the returning King in verses 32 through 50.

This is another “Messianic Psalm!!” …  Quoted in the N.T.  (Rom.

15:9)!!

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*Psalm 18:1-3 \\ 1**To the Chief Musician.

A Psalm of David The Servant of the Lord, Who Spoke to the Lord The Words of This Song on the Day that the Lord Delivered Him from the Hand of All His Enemies and from the Hand of Saul.

And He Said: *

*I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

\\ 2**The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

\\ 3**I will call upon the Lord, /who is worthy/ to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.

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Here, we see Jesus trusting in His Father before we will see Him travail upon the Cross.

“You are My high tower,” He says.

“I’m safe in You.

I get perspective from You.”

And the same is available to us.

Can you hear Jesus in the Garden of Gesheminie finishing His prayer after the 3 rd…  “Not my will but thy will be done”…  with these words???

 

We might be surrounded by confusion and questions, but when we get away and seek the Lord, suddenly we see things are all in God’s hands, the one who loves us deeply…

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*Psalm 18:4-6 \\ 4**The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

\\ 5**The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

\\ 6**In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, /even/ to His ears.

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Here, we sense the heart, the tension, the distress of Jesus as He cried out to His Father from the Cross.

Surrounded by the hordes of hell, spat upon by men of the earth, Jesus endured the agony for you and me.

Enveloped by ALL the Sin of Mankind…  for you and for me!   “*He Himself*”…  our “*Advocate*”, our “*Propitiation*”( 1 Jn)

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*Psalm 18:7-8 \\ 7**Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry.

\\ 8**Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it.

\\ \\ *

As Jesus hung on the Cross, all of nature convulsed when it saw mankind murder its Maker.

The earth quaked.

The rocks split.

The graves opened.

Matthew 27:52-53 \\ *52**and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; \\ 53**and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.* \\ \\

*Psalm 18:9-11 \\ 9**He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.

\\ 10**And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.

\\ 11**He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him /was/ dark waters /And/ thick clouds of the skies.

\\ \\ *

As Jesus hung on the Cross, the sky became frighteningly dark as the Father came down.

Did He come to save His Son? No, He came to smite Him.

Why?

For my sins.

Jesus didn’t just die for the sins of the world generically.

No, He died for each of my sins individually and specifically.

Thus, the suffering of our Lord far exceeds anything we can understand this side of heaven.

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*Psalm **18:12**-15 \\ 12**From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

\\ 13**The Lord thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

\\ 14**He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

\\ 15**Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At Your rebuke, O Lord, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

\\ \\ *

The God we serve is majestic, awesome, and more powerful than we can possibly imagine.

Sometimes I think we subconsciously think of God as being so busy with other people or situations that we get lost in the shuffle, or so old from being around since eternity past that He’s no longer able to handle the situation we face.

I encourage you to reconsider your God as you read this psalm.

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*Psalm 18:16-19 \\ 16**He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

\\ 17**He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me.

\\ 18**They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support.

\\ 19**He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.

\\ \\ *

John 16:8-11 \\ *8**And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: \\ 9**of sin, because they do not believe in Me; \\ 10**of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; \\ 11**of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

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Hebrews 4:15 \\ *15**For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all /points/ tempted as /we are,/ /yet/ without sin.

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*Psalm 18:20-24 \\ 20**The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

\\ 21**For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God.

\\ 22**For all His judgments /were/ before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me.

\\ 23**I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.

\\ 24**Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

\\ \\ *

Here, we see the reigning Priest’s authority, proved by His resurrection from the dead…

 

Once each year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest would exchange his splendid robes, mitre, and breastplate for plain linen garments.

Then he would go into the temple, through the veil, into the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the covenant stood.

After sprinkling blood from a previously offered sacrifice on the mercy seat, which was covered by two cherubim, he would emerge from the Holy of Holies to the crowd anxiously awaiting outside and proclaim that they were forgiven.

This would be followed by a glorious celebration.

Sometimes, however, the priest himself was not worthy to enter the Holy of Holies.

He was not cleansed properly, not as prepared as he ought to have been.

According to *historian Alfred Edersheim*, on four occasions, the priest died in the Holy of Holies.

For this reason, the high priest would attach a rope to his ankle so that, if he died, the people could pull him out without risking their own lives.

The stage is set.

The Great High Priest has died on the Cross.

He’s in the holy place, behind a veil of sorts, a tomb for a curtain.

He’s lying on a blood-splattered slab of a “mercy seat,” wrapped in linen, surrounded by two angels.

The question is: Did His offering take?

Was Jesus acceptable?

Did His work satisfy the Father?

For three days, the question remained unanswered to His followers, until Easter morning when He would emerge.

Yes, the offering took.

Yes, His work was acceptable.

And we are forgiven—eternal praise be to Him!

 

Hebrews 9:11-12 \\ *11**But Christ came /as/ High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

\\ 12**Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

\\ \\ *

*Psalm 18:25-27 \\ 25**With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; \\ 26**With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

\\ 27**For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.

\\ \\ *

I believe the conversation we’re listening in on here is between the Father and the Son.

After seeing our Great High Priest’s authority, we see His activity, for here *He intercedes* for you and me.

* *

*Psalm 18:28-31 \\ 28**For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

\\ 29**For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall.

\\ 30**/As for/** God, His way /is/ perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He /is/ a shield to all who trust in Him.

\\ 31**For who /is/ God, except the Lord?

And who /is/ a rock, except our God?

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Here, we see our Great High Priest’s ability.

Philippians 2 tells us that when He came to earth, Jesus became like you and me yet without sin.

This means that the miracles He did were all done in the power of the Holy Spirit as He depended on His Father.

In so doing, He is our example, for He shows us how our own lives would look if we chose to be empowered by the Spirit and dependent upon the Father.

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*Psalm 18:32-42 \\ 32**/It is/** God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect.